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Colby Arts Season Announcement 2026-27

Contents Colby Arts 2026–27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Highlighted Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On View at the Colby College Museum of Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Lunder Institute for American Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Colby Arts Office K–12 and Community Engagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Colby Arts 2026-27 This third annual Colby Arts season announcement is your first look into a year of multidisciplinary and innovative arts programming. With original works by Colby faculty, students, and guest artists, interactive workshops, and timely convenings, there are ways for everyone to participate in the creative process. The Center for the Arts and Humanities’ 2025-27 theme, “Islands,” continues through this season, and many programs are centered around the Colby College Museum of Art’s exhibition Imagining an Archipelago: Art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Their Diasporas. As the Colby Arts community has grown, our spaces retain an intimacy that allows for close connection with the artwork and artists who animate important conversations across campus and in Waterville. Let us know what you are looking forward to this year: performances at the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, workshops at Greene Block + Studios, or exhibitions at the Colby College Museum of Art and Paul J. Schupf Art Center. Follow and comment at colby.arts on social media to get up-to-date information, interviews with guest artists, and behind-the-scenes looks. Visit arts.colby.edu for the full program listing and to reserve your spots for ticketed events.

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Highlighted Programs Center for the Arts and Humanities Islands - 2025–27 Theme While the word “island” might conjure an image of isolation—the castaway on a pile of sand with a single palm tree— long, global histories of insularity and archipelagic thinking complicate such an image. Islands have been sites of dynamic cultural exchange for centuries. Today, islands carry an outsized burden in terms of environmental catastrophes, historical legacies of colonization, and the continued subjugation of marginalized people. Decentering continental landmasses, our

theme surfaces these complex tensions and invites our communities to think through pressing contemporary issues. Island residents and their diasporas offer generative ideas for responding to the climate crisis through solidarities, rather than extractive technologies. Islands—as both place and theoretical framework— open myriad transdisciplinary possibilities. At its heart, archipelagic thinking enables endless fluid connections that illuminate relational power dynamics.

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Photo Credit: Jordan Panuelo (soun Lasialap)

MATAO [in process] by Gi Matan Guma’ September 17, 6 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts

The Lyons Arts Lab: Celebrate and Elevate Established in 2023, the Lyons Arts Lab offers flexible and individualized support for Colby students to advance their creative work. Colby’s Lyons Arts Lab inspires, celebrates, and elevates student work at multiple stages of a creative process—from an idea’s inception to a project’s completion. Offering creative residences on and off campus, institutional partnerships, mentorship, project support, workshops, and more, the lab allows students to liberate creative thought and action, with learning, making, and connection-building at its center. The Lyons Arts Lab underscores the transformative potential of creative curiosity in building a life of meaning, purpose, and beauty.

Greene Block + Studios Open House September 4, 4 pm Greene Block + Studios Join Colby Arts at Greene Block + Studios to learn how you can get involved in the arts at Colby this year. There will be art-making activities and music, open to all.

Visit arts.colby.edu for the full program listing and to reserve your spot for ticketed events. 2

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Presented and performed by the Matao-CHamoru collective Gi Matan Guma’, MATAO [in process] is a ritual activation remembering ancestral wisdom to chart a new path toward freedom and liberation. By remembering ancestors who sailed beyond the horizon of human imagination, Gi Matan Guma’ gathers the courage and creativity to face the seemingly impossible challenges of the climate crisis, deep-sea mining, and militarism. Presented in conjunction with Imagining an Archipelago: Art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Their Diasporas.

ReWritten September 18 and 19, 7:30 pm September 20, 2 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts By Matthew Cumbie, Tom Truss, and collaborators, ReWritten reflects on the intimate relationship between

writers Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne as a way to explore histories and intimacy, and to extend the queer archive. Weaving together dance, spoken word, mixed media design, and live and recorded music, we ask: What really happened between Hawthorne and Melville, and what can that teach us today? COLBY ARTS 2026- 2027

Highlighted Programs Islands Seminar Series: Esteban Crespo September 21, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 Offered by the Center for the Arts and Humanities, this one-credit seminar series engages with experts from a variety of fields who explore the humanities theme of “Islands” in all its forms. In this course, you will participate in discussions with scholars, writers, and artists from a wide array of areas, giving you a comprehensive understanding of the theme. Through conversation, debate, and hands-on workshops, you will develop your own ideas and opinions on the theme while participating in humanities-centered modes of inquiry.

Songs From Here presents “Scrapbook” September 25, 6 pm Greene Block + Studios Now in their fifth concert season, Sarah Tuttle and pianist Bridget Convey present “Scrapbook,” a retrospective program that features 100-percent Maine-made music. You’ll hear selections from a variety of Maine composers, all commissioned by Songs From Here over the past five years.

Waterville Moves Every other Saturday starting September 26, 9:30 am and 10:30 am Greene Block + Studios Waterville Moves is a popular biweekly series that invites you to move your body, share stories, and 4

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create connections through guided movements and dance-making. The 9:30-10:15 am slot is the Caregiver + Child class, and 10:30-11:30 am is the Intergenerational class.

Islands Seminar Series: James Taylor September 28, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 James Calvin Taylor is Assistant Professor of Classics at Colby College, where he also teaches courses in the Environmental Humanities. His research interests span a wide variety of genres and time periods in classical antiquity, drawing upon interpretative frameworks from the history of science, environmental criticism, and the philosophy of history.

Developing Your Artistic Practice Every Wednesday from September 30 to December 9, 3 pm Greene Block + Studios Develop a personal, lifelong art-making practice working alongside Mainebased artists. This course introduces people to various ways to make art across disciplines and media. Open to learners of all ages, with credit offered through Mid-Maine Regional Adult Community Education.

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Lomazov/Rackers Piano Duo

brilliance and lyricism to vivid modern color. The second half will feature a piano four-hands repertoire.

October 2, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts

Colby Arts Jazz Concert Series: Peter Bernstein

Performed by Steinway Artists and Eastman School of Music piano faculty Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers, this program highlights the expressive power of piano collaboration. Works by William Bolcom, ”The Serpent’s Kiss;” Johann Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Haydn for two pianos; and Fang Man, “Two Colors For Piano,” move from

October 2, 6 pm Greene Block + Studios Kick off this year’s Colby Arts Jazz Concert series with jazz guitarist Peter Bernstein, who has played on festival, concert, and club stages all over the world and has appeared on more than 300 recordings, with 14 under his own name.

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Highlighted Programs Maine Lit Fest

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Duo Edelen and Friends

October 3, 6 pm Greene Block + Studios The Creative Writing Program at Colby College teams up with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance for the statewide Maine Lit Fest. Over these two days, we’ll host keynote speaker Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the Jennifer Jahrling Forese Writer-in-Residence, and a special In the News event with adrienne maree brown. The festival will also feature workshops, an open mic, and readings by local and national writers and artists. Invited guests include Hinge Collaborative, author Emerson Whitney, and contributors to the anthology Carrying the Light: Writing Toward Justice.

Islands Seminar Series: Mihku Paul October 5, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 Mihku Paul is multidisciplinary Indigenous artist and writer who grew up on a wild Maine river and specializes in cutting edge collaborations including Spinning Wampum, Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project, Waponahki Studies Redux, and Skoniminol Kuliwot (Good Seed).

Lunder Institute @ Colby College Museum of Art October 6 and 7, 4:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Join the Lunder Institute for American Art for a special convening that brings

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November 6, Noon Colby College Museum of Art This Baroque program highlights the expressive range of the trio sonata, from Bach’s contrapuntal clarity to Couperin’s graceful dances and Telemann’s expressive lyricism. Together, these works reveal the rich variety of national styles and emotional character that defines Baroque chamber music.

together participants from the 2024 and 2026 Lunder Institute @ cohorts, connecting the initiative’s inaugural U.S.-based participants—including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, The Broad, de Young Museum, and Addison Gallery of American Art—with its expanding international cohort, represented by the Yale Center for British Art, Tate Britain, Royal Academy of Arts, and Peggy Guggenheim Collection, to explore the transatlantic histories, geopolitical connections, and global contexts that have shaped American art. The program will take place over the course of two evenings. Conversations will begin at 4:30 pm each day and will be followed by a reception with light refreshments, offering attendees an opportunity to continue the exchange with participants and fellow guests.

Colby Symphony Orchestra - Journey to the Romantic Era October 24, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Join us for this year’s inaugural concert, featuring pieces from the Romantic Era. Louise Farrenc Overture No. 1 in E minor, Rachmaninoff Piano concerto No.1 in F-sharp minor featuring Colby Visiting Assistant Professor Keer Wang, and Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F major.

Islands Seminar Series: Serena Ferrando October 26, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 Serena Ferrando is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Humanities and Italian at Arizona State University. Her book, Channelling Nature: Plants, Animals, and Water in Italian Poetry (Toronto University Press, 2026), is an eco-digital study of the nonhuman in contemporary poetry.

Colby Arts Jazz Concert Series: Zaccai Curtis November 6, 6 pm Greene Block + Studios Zaccai Curtis is an acclaimed recording artist and producer, recently honored with the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Jazz Ensemble - The Groove Continuum November 7, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Experience an evening of inventive rhythms, rich harmonies, and spirited improvisation as the Colby Jazz Band explores the Groove Continuum through works by influential jazz composers and arrangers. From the relaxed yet driving swing feel of “Average Bear” to the energetic fusion pulse and striking melodies of “Song of Orpheus,” the concert traces a seamless range of styles and textures.

Islands Seminar Series: Cathy and Louis Bevier November 9, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 Cathy Bevier is the Oak Professor of Biology and Louis Bevier is an ornithologist and Research Associate in the Department of Biology at Colby College.

Wind Ensemble Between Rhythm and Reflection November 10, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts From vibrant dances to moments of quiet reflection, the Colby Wind Ensemble journeys through rhythmic energy, cultural expression, and vivid storytelling. Anthony Barfield’s “Here We Rest” offers a powerful, contemplative centerpiece, joined by Pierre La Plante’s “Caribbean Rondo,” alongside works that evoke motion, color, and the enduring pulse of rhythm through sound.

You’re Speaking My Language: Spanish and Filipino November 12, 5 pm Colby College Museum of Art Join speakers of Spanish and Filipino for conversation in the museum’s special exhibitions, Imagining an Archipelago: Art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Their Diasporas and The Sun Never Sets: Photographs and Prints of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico from the Hispanic Society Museum and Library. All levels welcome!

Persistence November 13, 7:30 pm November 14, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Written by Gail Carlson and directed by Bess Welden, a new one-act family drama about farmers struggling with the impacts of PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” This production is an interdisciplinary collaboration with the Environmental Studies Department. COLBY ARTS 2026- 2027

Highlighted Programs Islands Seminar Series: Romero Blanco, Eloy de Guzman November 16, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219

Choirs at Colby Celebrate Love and Joy!

Elm City Small Press Fest

November 14, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts

November 14, 11 am-4 pm Greene Block + Studios

The Choirs at Colby will present a festive first concert of the season, featuring works by several trailblazing AfricanAmerican choral composers, including Rollo Dilworth, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Rosephanye Powell. Colby Collegium will also look ahead to the holiday season with Benjamin Britten’s harp-accompanied masterpiece, “A Ceremony of Carols.” Finally, the combined choirs will conclude the program with André Thomas’s “Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy,” a gospelinfluenced masterwork that offers a fresh and soulful perspective on one of the central texts of the choral tradition.

Elm City Small Press Fest is an all-day celebration of contemporary printed material from local and national artists, zine-makers, independent publishers, and community collectives. Established in 2021, the fifth annual fest is organized and hosted by Colby Libraries and Colby Arts. Stop by to meet print and book artists from around the region, peruse their offerings, and participate in workshops.

Eloy’s work explores the links between Cuban anticolonial movements and US expansionism in the Caribbean during the 1850s, examining Cuban dissident actions against Spanish colonialism both on the island and abroad.

Lasell Trio November 20, Noon Colby College Museum of Art This program features two seminal works of the French piano trio’s repertoire and two shorter works that spotlight relationships and musical influences within the French tradition.

Islands Seminar Series: Jessamine Batario

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Break Burn Build December 4, 7:30 pm December 5, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Directed by Annie Kloppenberg. A program of original dance works, Break Burn Build features student choreography, a faculty-directed First Year Dance Project, and performances by guest artists.

Colby Arts Jazz Concert Series: Toninho Horta December 4, 6 pm Greene Block + Studios Toninho Horta is a highly celebrated Brazilian jazz guitarist, singer, and composer from Belo Horizonte. Known for his intricate, gravity-defying chord progressions and soulful melodies, he is a cornerstone of Brazil’s legendary Clube da Esquina and a globally recognized master of Latin and Brazilian jazz.

Colby Symphony Orchestra - Journey to the Classical Era December 5, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Colby Symphony Orchestra closes out the fall concert series with Mozart’s Symphony No. 26 in E flat major, Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 in G major, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, the Pastoral.

Islands Seminar Series: Jorell Melendez Badillo December 6, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 Jorell Meléndez-Badillo is a historian of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America and the author, most recently, of the critically acclaimed book, Puerto Rico: A National History (Princeton University Press, 2024),

Daponte String Quartet: “Mendelssohn and Hegel,” the Genesis of Romantic Music February 26, Noon Colby College Museum of Art Selected quartets by Mendelssohn of the same era as some of the romantic works of art in the Colby Museum, connected by a lecture from Myles Jordan on the genesis of the period in music and art.

November 30, 7 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Room 219 Jessamine Batario is an art historian, curator, and museum educator specializing in modern and contemporary art. She is currently the Linde Family Foundation Curator of Academic Engagement at the Colby College Museum of Art and curated the exhibition Imagining an Archipelago.

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Highlighted Programs Miles and Katherine Culbertson Prentice Distinguished Lecture: Juan Sánchez March 11, 5:30 pm Bixler Art and Music Center, Given Auditorium

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Youth Art Month Exhibition March Greene Block + Studios A city-wide celebration of youth artists and arts educators with exhibitions at Ticonic Gallery and Greene Block + Studios. The exhibitions will be on view throughout March, featuring more than 1,000 works by K-12 students in central Maine.

What Is Noise March 6, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts What Is Noise presents a program featuring selections from its sophomore album of new music, Temporal Echoes, alongside works by Colby College’s Student Composer Winner, performed through a side-by-side collaboration with Colby students. The program

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explores the relationship between space and time, engaging themes of memory, place, people, and nostalgia, while marking more than 12 years of the ensemble’s collaborative music-making.

Join us for an intimate talk and Q&A with Juan Sánchez, a mixed-media artist whose work addresses issues of Puerto Rican life in the U.S. and on the island. The conversation will be followed by a reception in the William D. Adams Gallery in the Colby Museum’s lobby. The Miles and Katharine Culbertson Prentice Distinguished Lecture is presented by the Colby College Museum of Art and its Lunder Institute for American Art.

Colby Symphony Orchestra - Exploring Impression and Tone Poem March 13, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Debussy’s “Clair de lune” from Suite Bergamasque, Richard Strauss’s “Last Four Songs,”and Liszt’s “Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne”

New Works, with the Portland Ballet

March 14, 5:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Highlighting the collaboration between Colby College and the Portland Ballet, New Works is a program of all-original performances that feature Colby students alongside members of the Portland Ballet. Choreography for this year’s New Works is by Portland Ballet dancers and guest artists with the Department of Performance, Theater, and Dance. AP RIL

Frame by Frame: Filipino Avant-Garde Films April 1, 6 pm Maine Film Center at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center Join us for a free showing of the rarely screened film On the Way to India Consciousness, I Reached China (1968, 37 min.) by Henry Francia, a post-war self-portrait and visual

incantation of a Filipino artist who relocates to New York City in the 1960s, far away from his homeland. Bending the possibilities of narrative form, the film explores the formation of creative identity amidst a bustling era of the city’s experimental interventions. The film is preceded by Roxlee’s Juan Gapang

(Johnny Crawl), a 1987 short film about a masked figure crawling through the streets of Manila, released the year after the country’s historic People Power Revolution. The program will be introduced by Patricia Ledesma Villon, assistant curator of moving image at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

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Highlighted Programs First Friday Film Lounge

standards, Afro-Latin classics, American Songbook favorites, and original compositions, including “Renaissance,” “Sin Miedo,” and “September’s Child.”

April 2, 5 pm Greene Block + Studios Celebrate pioneering film artists with free food, music, and relaxed screenings of early Filipino avant-garde experimental films, curated by Patricia Ledesma Villon, assistant curator of moving image at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Spring Musical April 23, 24, and 30, and May 1 Waterville Opera House Colby’s Department of Performance, Theater, and Dance and the Waterville Opera House will collaborate on a musical production.

Jazz Ensemble Modern Voices in Jazz

MAY

April 3, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts The Colby Jazz Band is joined by special guest artist Brian Stark on the tenor saxophone. The program highlights a dynamic selection of Stark’s original works and arrangements, performed alongside the full ensemble. Expect rich improvisation, expressive melodies, and a vibrant blend of classic and contemporary jazz sounds throughout the evening.

momentum, layered sonorities, and expressive musical landscapes shaped by contrast and color.

Wind Ensemble Shades of Sound

Readings by poet Rennie Ament and poet and Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Ian-Khara Ellasante from Bates College, followed by a Q&A.

April 6, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts The spring Colby Wind Ensemble concert showcases a vibrant spectrum of color, rhythm, and emotion. “Chroma Mosaic” by Asha Srinivasan offers a vivid tapestry of shifting hues and textures, while Samuel R. Hazo’s “Blue and Green Music” provides a reflective, impressionistic soundscape. The program moves between bold

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Two Cent Talks: Rennie Ament and Ian-Khara Ellasante April 6, 5 pm Greene Block + Studios

Collegium Voces en canto April 10, 7:30 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts Colby Collegium will present Voces en canto (Voices in Song), a celebration of choral music from across the Spanish-

speaking world. Spanning more than four centuries, the program features works by composers from Latin America and Spain, including Hernando Franco, one of the earliest composers active in the New World, and contemporary Mexican composer Julio Morales. The concert culminates with Carlos Guastavino’s beloved Indianas, a set of lively and expressive choral songs inspired by Argentine folk traditions.

Joel LaRue Smith Solo Jazz Piano April 16, Noon Colby College Museum of Art Pianist-composer Joel LaRue Smith presents an exciting solo jazz piano concert featuring music from his 2026 two-volume release, Sketches and Portraits. Smith’s stunning artistry seamlessly blends stride, Afro-Latin montuno, gospel, funk, and bebop into an evocative musical tapestry. The repertoire spans film music, jazz

Colby Symphony Orchestra/Choirs at Colby - Choral Masterworks May 1, 7:30 pm May 2, 3 pm Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts The Choirs at Colby and the Colby Symphony Orchestra join forces for an uplifting program that brings together two distinctive voices in 20th-century choral-orchestral music. The concert features William Grant Still’s “Psalm for the Living,” a neo-Romantic work that praises the wonders of the natural world and honors the daily works of humanity. The program concludes with Francis Poulenc’s “Gloria,” a French masterpiece renowned for its colorful harmony, vibrant orchestration, and striking contrasts of exuberance and introspection. The program will open with Concert Overture No. 2 by Florence Price and feature the winner of the annual Music Department Concerto Competition.

Senior Art Exhibition 2027 Opening May 6, 5 pm Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center Each year, the Colby Museum organizes a culminating exhibition highlighting the capstone projects of senior studio art majors. After four years of developing their practices, these artists present work across a range of disciplines, including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and digital media. On view

from the end of the spring semester through Commencement Weekend, this exhibition marks the completion of graduating seniors’ creative work at Colby.

JUNE

June First Friday: Pride Edition June 4, 6 pm Greene Block + Studios Celebrate Pride Month with performances by Maine-based LGBTQ+ artists.

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Colby Museum Free and Open to All O N CA MPUS Tuesday–Saturday: 10 am–5 pm, Sunday: noon–5 pm Thursdays until 9 pm during the academic year

The Sun Never Sets: Photographs and Prints of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico from the Hispanic Society Museum and Library November 5, 2026 –April 18, 2027

Installation view of Imagining an Archipelago: Art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Their Diasporas, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Imagining an Archipelago: Art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Their Diasporas Through June 6, 2027

Alex Katz | Out of Sight: A Drawing Survey Through October 11, 2026 The first major exhibition in more than three decades to highlight Alex Katz’s drawings, revealing their essential role in his creative process.

Drawing for White Lilies, c. 1968. Opaque watercolor and pen on paper. 9 × 9 in. (22.9 × 22.9 cm). Collection of the artist 14

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Photo Credit: Patrick Lenaghan, Courtesy of The Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

Physically and visually immersive presentation of paintings, sculptures, videos, prints, photographs, and multimedia installations that explore artists’ relationships to the histories and communities of their lands and seas.

Gamaliel Rodríguez, Correctional Faith, 2022. Acrylic, ink, and gold leaf on paper. 72 × 52 in. (182.9 × 132.1 cm). Colby College Museum of Art, Museum purchase from the Museum Art Purchases Fund, 2023.043

Jules Alphonse Eugène Itier, Landing place and floating bridge of Taguig at the Entrance of the Laguna, c. 1840s. Daguerreotype. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Gift of Charles G. Massa

Reflecting on Spain’s waning imperial presence prior to the Spanish–American War, this exhibition features rare 19th- and early-20th-century print and photo albums— some on public display for the first time—to offer an unprecedented look at the role of visual culture during a critical turning point in global history.

María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Freedom Trap, 2013. Polaroid Polacolor Pro. 24 × 20 in. (61.0 × 50.8 cm). Colby College Museum of Art, Museum purchase from the Jere Abbott Acquisitions Fund, 2024.044

Juan Sánchez, Aquí no hay luz, 1995–96. Oil, acrylic, sand, oil stick, and laser prints on canvas. 48 × 96 in. (121.9 × 243.8 cm). Colby College Museum of Art, Museum purchase from the Jere Abbott Acquisitions Fund, 2025.029

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Colby Museum A Shared Life: The Lives and Work of Edwin Denby, Rudy Burckhardt, and Yvonne Jacquette May 20–November 7, 2027 Organized by guest curator Vincent Katz, this exhibition delves into the intertwined lives and work of Edwin Denby, Rudy

Yvonne Jacquette, Town of Skowhegan, 1988. Oil on canvas. 78 3/16 × 64 3/16 in. (198.6 × 163 cm). Colby College Museum of Art, Museum purchase from the Jetté Acquisitions Fund, 2003.024

Burckhardt, and Yvonne Jacquette to tell a story about creative collaboration and artistic networks in the New York and

Maine art worlds in the mid-20th century. At its core, the exhibition asks: what does it mean to live a life devoted to art?

DOWN TOWN Wednesday–Monday: 11 am–7 pm

By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth Through November 2, 2026 In partnership with the Brandywine Museum of Art and the Farnsworth Art Museum, this multi-sited exhibition explores Betsy James Wyeth’s (1921– 2020) environmental, architectural, and interior design. Colby Museum’s presentation focuses on the multilayered sites of Allen and Benner Islands (Colby’s Island Campus) with new commissions by four contemporary artists, extending the islands’ history as living sites of artistic response.

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Light Forms: Modern American Photography from the Colby Museum

Mark Ferguson, Tom Burckhardt, Yvonne Jacquette, Jacob Burckhardt, Yoshiko Chuma, Edwin Denby, and Rudy Burckhardt (left to right) at the wedding of Jacob Burckhardt and Yoshiko Chuma, Searsmont, Maine, 1979

December 4, 2026 –April 12, 2027

Also on view: The Colby College Museum of Art’s collection of more than 10,000 artworks represents the full breadth and complexity of American art, and also includes works by international artists from antiquity to the present. Galleries of works from the Colby Museum collection are on view and rotated regularly. Some American Stories, displayed in the Lunder Wing, is a thematic presentation of works from the Colby collection that takes visitors on a Mandy Lamb, Untitled (ghost), 2024. Inkjet print. 10 × 15 inches. journey from before the founding of the United States to the present day. Courtesy the artist In the Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Works of Alex Katz, a rotating selection of artworks from the museum’s nearly 900 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures by the artist is on view.

Nathan Lerner, Light Box Experiment: Eye and String, 1939. Gelatin silver print. 9 1/2 × 12 in. (24 × 30 cm). Colby College Museum of Art, Gift of Hilary Leff and Elliot Groffman, 2020.065

Senior Art Exhibition May 7–22, 2027

Drawn from the Colby Museum’s collection, this exhibition features over 40 photographs made by major figures in American art from the mid-20th century. Working at a moment of expansive technological possibility, these artists embraced new photographic inventions to create images that embraced and expanded the formal revolutions of the modern age.

A presentation of Colby College’s graduating students’ capstone projects in studio art.

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Museum Programs

Lunder Institute for American Art Expanding the Boundaries of American Art

Art Break

The Colby Museum’s Lunder Institute for American Art supports innovative research, scholarship, and creative production grounded in critical inquiry, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to expanding the contours of American art.

Every first and third Thursday of the month, slow down and examine a single work of art for 30 screen-free minutes, guided by museum staff, community members, and visiting artists.

Art in the Park Waterville Creates, Waterville Public Library, and the Colby Museum join forces to offer dynamic, creative art programming for all ages for five Thursdays during the summer at Castonguay Square in downtown Waterville. Art in the Park 2026 is sponsored by Kennebec Savings Bank, City of Waterville, Harold Alfond Foundation and Allen Insurance.

Artist Workshops Work with artists one-on-one to paint, dye, collage, draw, sculpt, sew, write, and so much more! Inspired by museum exhibitions and collections, participate in hands-on art-making workshops led by exhibition artists, Lunder Institute for American Art Fellows, and community teaching artists to explore material processes in-depth.

Art Queeries Celebrate queer art, life, and legacy through insightful conversations with special guests and a free communal meal.

Community Day Join this annual community-wide celebration hosted at the Colby Museum on campus the last Saturday in July. Free and open to all ages, the museum welcomes local partner organizations, community groups, artists, performers, 18

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and food trucks for a summer party filled with art-making, games, tours, music, and performances. Community Day is generously supported by the Fullgraf Foundation.

Drop-in Drawing Led by Art Department faculty each semester, try your hand at sketching and drawing techniques and processes inspired by art on view in the Colby Museum. All materials provided, and no drawing experience required!

First Fridays Every first Friday of the month from 5 pm to 7 pm, visit free exhibition openings, hear live music, make art, and enjoy food and refreshments in downtown Waterville in collaboration with Colby Museum partners, the Colby Arts Office, and Waterville Creates.

Frame by Frame View unique film screenings curated by the Colby Museum and Maine Film Center and enjoy talkbacks, conversations, and insights from filmmakers, film buffs, scholars, Colby faculty, and artists.

Gallery Activations The Colby Museum is always changing. From pop-ups, tours, performances, music, movement, quiet hours, community meals, and collaborations across the College, look for exciting new ways to activate your senses and experience art this year.

Music in the Museum Enjoy the galleries through the lens of sound. A series of live hour-long performances in the museum features local and regional musicians, curated by the Colby College Music Department.

You’re Speaking My Language Every academic semester, these language-based social events are your opportunity to practice your language skills, enjoy refreshments, connect with other learners, and converse about art. Hosted in collaboration with Colby’s language departments, these sessions are open to visitors and speakers at all levels.

We offer four key containers for audiences to engage with: Fellows, Lunder Institute @, Summer Think Tank, and our Audio Archive. Each serves as an invitation to participate in and learn from the dynamic, evolving conversations shaping the field of American art today.

Fellows

Sidra Bell, Helga Davis, and Luke Stewart performance. Photography by John Meader.

Each year, the Lunder Institute supports a cohort of emerging, mid-career, and senior practitioners whose work advances new ideas and practices in American art. Fellows engage deeply with Colby College and the greater Waterville community through public lectures, workshops, studio visits, and classroom dialogues.

In 2026, Lunder Institute @ partnered with the Yale Center for British Art, Tate Britain, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice to examine broader geopolitical connections and legacies that marked the development of American art history.

2026 Fellows include Laylah Ali (Ossorio Fellow), Maria de Los Angeles, Demian DinéYazhi’, Merik Goma, Alex Jackson, and Joshua A.M. Ross. 2027 Fellows to be announced.

Summer Think Tank

Lunder Institute @ Lunder Institute @ invites art institutions to consider American art, its history, its future, and its ongoing evolution by responding to the question, “What is the state of American Art?” Via internal conversations across departments, they then share what emerges through a public program.

Lunder Institute @ 2027 will delve into the history of art in the American South.

Audio Archive Launched in partnership with the Colby College Libraries and hosted on JSTOR, Audio Archive features recorded conversations from the Summer Think Tanks, along with oral histories, public programs, and convenings. The archive is available to the Colby community, with broader public access beginning in fall 2027.

Summer Think Tank convenes artists, scholars, museum professionals, and culture bearers for generative, interdisciplinary dialogue. While conversations are not open to the public, they are recorded and preserved for future research through our growing archive.

We invite you to explore these pathways of engagement and discover more about our current fellows, past programs, and upcoming events by visiting our website at museum.colby. edu/lunder-institute or follow us on Instagram @lunderinstitute.

Summer Think Tank 2027 will examine the history, impact, and influence of Academies within American art.

Join us this season as we deepen our understanding of American art and reimagine its possibilities—together.

COLBY ARTS 2026- 2027

Colby Arts Office K-12 and Community Engagement Youth Art Month An annual celebration of youth artists in the region, including an exhibition at Greene Block + Studios, performances at the Gordon Center, and artist-led workshops.

Developing Your Artistic Practice Programming across artistic disciplines supports Colby faculty, staff, and students, as well as Waterville residents of all ages, in developing a personal, lifelong art-making practice, building creative communities, and learning with guest artists.

Colby Arts connects the world-class artists and facilities of Colby College with Waterville’s young people, educators, and families, nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers in central Maine. Through access to professional artists, stateof-the-art venues, and hands-on learning, Colby Arts builds a pipeline for lifelong creative engagement,

Professional Development for Educators Colby Arts offers professional development workshops for classroom teachers. Led by core teaching artists and Colby faculty, these sessions help educators integrate arts-based approaches across subjects and grades.

First Fridays Started by Colby Arts in 2022, First Fridays has become a monthly tradition inviting everyone to downtown Waterville to meet artists, listen to live music, attend exhibition openings and workshops, and come together for all things creative.

Colby Arts Colby Arts is building a culture of creativity that is innovative, bold, and socially conscious. Arts Office Center for the Arts and Humanities Colby College Libraries Colby College Museum of Art and Lunder Institute for American Art Creative Writing Program Department of Art Department of Cinema Studies Department of Music Department of Performance, Theater, and Dance Lyons Arts Lab

rooting the arts as a cornerstone of life in Waterville, Maine.

School-Time Field Trips Colby Arts hosts curated field trips each year for Waterville Public Schools students during school hours. These trips include performances by visiting artists and Colby ensembles, arts entrepreneurship workshops, and hands-on arts integration experiences across disciplines. 20

COLBY ARTS 2026- 2027

COLBY ARTS 2025 6-2026 7

To get more information about Colby Arts, see all upcoming events, and reserve your tickets, go to arts.colby.edu.

Follow along on Instagram and Facebook at colby.arts

Colby College 4000 Mayflower Hill Waterville, Maine 04901 arts.colby.edu